This outline focuses on areas where Jews may have been prominent in the armed forces. Link here for a more general introduction to Service Records.

Joseph Rosenberg, photographed in 1915 with the West Yorkshire Reigment, took his peacetime occupation into the army, acting as the regimental tailor.
Moving Here catalogue reference (WYAS) WYL5043/13/45

Many are known to have served in the armed forces with Wellington, in the war against Napoleon, as well as in the Crimean war. Jews were prominent as volunteers in the 11th Tower Hamlets Rifles up until the unit ceased to exist in 1864 when it disappeared from the Army List. Many immigrant Jews served in the Armed Forces in the Anglo-Boer war, the First World War and the Second World War.

In the Anglo-Boer War (South African War, 1899-1902) between 3,000-4,000 British Jews served and 127 are listed as killed in action. Many were colonials, such as Colonel Sir David Harris, who fought in the Diamond Fields in 1878. An estimated 300 Jews, mainly from Russia, fought on the side of the Boers.

Comprehensive records of military service in the British Army exist. One of the main pitfalls when researching in this area is that your ancestor may have changed his name. This was not uncommon immediately after the First World War, as many Jews experienced anti-semitism in the ranks.

Soldiers Records

British Army pre-1914 Soldiers Records in the War Office Archives in the National Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) include many personnel records before 1914.

The National Archives record series (PRO) WO97 Soldiers' Documents (Attestation and Discharge Papers) archive is the main series of personnel records for long-service soldiers. For those discharged between the years 1882 to 1913, however, the documents are listed alphabetically for all soldiers who had survived an Army career, and not just those discharged to pension. These documents are a wonderful supply of information about the soldiers and contain a lot of detail about their careers.

The Imperial Yeomanry was formed in late 1899 because of the need for mounted infantry in South Africa. Records are held in the National Archives record (PRO) WO129/1-7 and give similar genealogical information to that found in (PRO) WO97.

19th Century Medal Rolls and Campaign Medals

Awards of campaign medals between Waterloo and the Second Boer War (South African War) are recorded on the medal rolls in the National Archives in (PRO) WO100. Campaign or war medals were awarded to members of the armed services for taking part in a campaign or for service in time of war.

The Medal Rolls in (PRO) WO100 are usually arranged by:

Regiment/battalion (for the Army)

Ship (for the Royal Navy)

Rank

Name

Medal rolls do not give detailed information about individuals: they record the recipients' regimental or service number and a note of the clasps to which he or she was entitled. Before 1914, there are no indexes to the Medal Rolls; details can be difficult to find unless you know your ancestor's service records.

For the Second Boer War, the records for the Queen's South Africa Medal (1899-1900) and the King's South Africa Medal (1900-02) give more information about the service of the individual recipients. In addition, the archives in (PRO) WO32/7960 and (PRO) WO108/136-717 contain information about recommendations for awards.

Introduction to the First World War

Three brothers from one family who served in the First World War.
Moving Here catalogue reference (JML) 1993.4.1.p63

The number of enlisted Jews in the First World War was estimated at around 50,000, and a high proportion of them were either foreign-born (including those who had arrived in Britain as children) or, if British-born, had foreign-born parents.

Five Jewish soldiers won the Victoria Cross. One of these men was Sergeant Issy Smith (Shmulevitch) who was the son of immigrants from Eastern Europe. Others who were the sons of immigrants from Eastern Europe included Captain Robert Gee, Lieutenant Frank Alexander de Pass, Private J White (Weiss) and Leonard Keysor. Fifty Jewish soldiers received the Distinguished Service Order.

In addition, Jews formed their own unit, the Zion Mule Corps, fighting at Gallipoli and the Dardanelles in 1915. The Jewish Chronicle published an article in November 1921 to commemorate the Zion Mule Corps and the Jewish Battalion who fought in Palestine.

Later, in 1918, three Jewish units, the 38th, 39th and 40th battalions of the Royal Fusiliers were in the Jewish Legion under General Allenby in Palestine. These regiments were disbanded after the First World War.

Many Eastern European Jews were in the Pioneer Corps, working as labourers on the trenches. The number of foreign Jews in the Labour Corps is estimated (from the British Jewry Book of Honour) at over 4,600, including those who served in the Middlesex Alien Companies and the Egyptian Labour Corps.

The men undertook any labouring task required of them, they:

Built and repaired roads and railways

Built defences

Laid electricity and telephones cables

Moved ammunition and stores

Worked in forestry or quarrying

Guarded Prisoners of War

Buried the dead

Others looked after services in the towns and camps where front line soldiers were sent for rest. In parts of France and Belgium the men of the Labour Corps worked unarmed within the range of German guns. The web sites below are useful if you are interested in learning more about the men of the Labour Corps.

The British Jewry Book of Honour, compiled by Reverend Michael Adler, DSO, the Senior Jewish Chaplain, is a useful, although not always accurate, source to commence research with. The National Archives record series (PRO) WO363 and (PRO)WO 364 contain the surviving records of around one third of the men eligible for pension.

The Ministry of Defence has released First World War soldiers' records in the British armed services to The National Archives for those serving in 1914 up to 1921. The original documents cannot be viewed due to their fragile condition. The records are available in the National Archives microfilm reading room as follows:

(PRO) WO339: British Army commissioned officers whose service ended in 1920 or before

(PRO) WO374: Territorial Force officers

(PRO) WO363: 'Burnt Records' British Army Other Ranks, whose service ended in 1920 or before, may be in the so-called burnt records

A group of Jewish soldiers in Bangalore, India, in 1920.
Moving Here catalogue reference (JML) 1984.125.I.p46

First World War Medal Rolls

If the serviceman or woman survived the First World War and served long enough overseas to qualify for campaign medals, records may be in the Medal Rolls. These rolls have little or no personal information listing the:

Unit

Service number

Theatres of war in which the individual served

Medals awarded

The National Archives record series (PRO)WO 329 has rolls of record service (campaign) medals, honours and awards.

A Jewish member of the Women's Land Army takes a break from haymaking in Hertfordshire during World War Two.
Moving Here catalogue reference (JML) 979.2

The Jewish population, estimated at 400,000 in the United Kingdom, had approximately 60,000 Jewish men and women in the British Armed Forces, including 14,000 in the Royal Air Force and 1,500 in the Royal Navy. (Read more about British Army, RAF and Navy Records.)

These men and women were contacted by Jewish Chaplains, and their names have appeared in authentic and checked nominal rolls. (This excludes Dominion personnel and the 30,000 men and women that voluntarily enlisted in the British Forces in Palestine.)

British Jews bore their full share of the Second World War in every quarter of the globe: in the operations on sea, on land and in the air. They continued to do so in later conflicts, in Malaya, Kenya, the Falklands and other areas of war.

Some 4,000 Jewish refugees enlisted in Alien Pioneer companies and many were transferred to first-class fighting battalions, some becoming commandos and paratroopers, and others commissioning and awarding decorations.

Palestinian Jews served with the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force. They were in France in 1940, in the campaigns in Greece and Crete, in the Western Desert and again in Europe.

Special Units

The British forces in the Second World War spawned many special, or unconventional, units. Some were well known, such as the Army Commandos, the SAS (Special Air Service) and the LRDG (Long Range Desert Group), but among the most ambitious, daring and mysterious were the Jewish commandos of the special interest groups who went behind the enemy lines. Many were immigrants or refugees. One example is No. 3 Troop of No. 10 Commando.

The Jewish Military Museum and Memorial Room

The Jewish Military Museum and Memorial Room represents British Jewry's contribution to the Armed Forces of the Crown from the Crimea to the present day and has:

Memorabilia

Artifacts

Medals

Letters

Documents

Pictures

Uniforms

The museum commemorates the contribution made by British and other Jewish men and women over the last two centuries who have taken part in the various military struggles. However, the museum inevitably focuses on the two world wars.

The museum receives memorabilia donated by veterans and their families, is a resource centre for serious researchers and also helps veterans' families find out about their military past. It also holds details of the Jews who fought:

In the Spanish Civil War

With the Chindits

In Arnhem (Together with biographies)

In Korea

At Dieppe

(Most of these documents are also available at the Imperial War Museum).